Rare Bird, Inc. | Articles : Take Charge!

	Web Reviews From 1997 to the present, President/Creative Director, Jim Cota has been writing informative reviews of Web sites and other internet related issues for the Indianapolis Business Journal. If you've missed the articles in print you can catch up on past stories here. Articles are reprinted with permission of the Indianapolis Business Journal, copyright 1997 - 2005, IBJ Corp.

Take Charge!

In this cubicle world in which many of us live, power comes in a variety of forms. You might be the one has the key to the copy machine, or maybe you can just catch a glimpse of an outside window if you lean back in your chain and crane your neck to the left... The point is, maybe you've always longed to have a title like Supreme Ruler or Most Esteemed Sultan instead of Second Assistant to the Marketing Assistant's Assistant.

Now, regardless of your position in the world, you can rule over your own fiefdom. A new product called The Cubes makes it possible to build your own office cube labyrinth, complete with a variety cube inhabitants with menial job titles. The Cubes web site, www.cubefigures.com, provides biographic information on the main stars and shows a variety of configurations available. You can choose Joe, a Regional Project Manager with numerous infractions on his record for incomplete forms; Jan, an Assistant Customer Service Coordinator who has been caught making personal phone calls; Ted, an External Accounting Analyst with a perfect record; or one of five others.

Each Cube comes complete with four walls, a desk, computer, chair, file cabinet, and a variety of inane motivational art for the walls. You can even choose your preferred art for the computer screen to have your cube inhabitant working on a spreadsheet or playing Tetris.

The whimsical site also offers free downloadable extension art in the form of "Morale Boosters". You can download custom icon sets for your computer or access additional cube art to further customize your spaces. (Don't miss the dull gray carpet or fold-up overnight delivery box.)

In addition, the site can help you further create your personal cube persona through its clever random title generator. To stay updated on all the latest goings-on in the land of The Cubes, join the mailing list and receive periodic updates – yet another way to avoid doing any work in your own cube!

You can buy The Cubes (which come in four different configurations and an expansion set) at Archie McPhee, a site chock full of "900 amazing and education toys, gifts and novelties", most of which are dedicated to pursuing the oddly unique. Weren't you just looking for a Einstein Action Figure? Or a Hula Girl dashboard ornament? Or how about those chattering teeth you fondly remember? They're all here; and much, much more.

The site revels in the oddly tacky, and it's design – though simple – communicates the same. Ordering is simple, fast, and their customer service is top notch. So if you're looking for the perfect, hard-to-find gift for the wacky, hard-to-buy for type, look no further than Archie McPhee. And have fun building your Cube empire, Supreme Ruler of the Squares.